Speakers

Speakers

International Keynote Speakers

Michael M. Weinstein

Michael M. Weinstein holds a Ph.D. in economics from M.I.T. and serves as executive director of ImpactMatters, a start-up which conducts “impact audits” of nonprofits to certify their claims of philanthropic success. Previously, he served as chief program officer for the Robin Hood Foundation and founding director of the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations while holding the Paul A. Volcker Chair in International Economics at the Council. During the 1990s, he served on the editorial board of The New York Times and as the Times’ economics columnist. He is co-founder and chairman emeritus of Single Stop U.S.A., a national nonprofit which helps low income Americans solve financial problems.

Weinstein co-authored The Robin Hood Rules for Smart Giving (Columbia University Press, 2013)and The Democracy Advantage: How Democracies Promote Prosperity and Peace (Routledge and the Council on Foreign Relations, 2004); edited Globalization: What’s New? (Columbia University Press and the Council on Foreign Relations, 2005); and authored Recovery and Redistribution under the N.I.R.A. (North Holland, 1980).

Measuring impact: A pathway to accountable philanthropyMichael will review the basics of the quantitative system he built at the Robin Hood Foundation to determine how best to spend $180 million a year to fight poverty in New York City. Second, Michael will discuss ImpactMatters, a startup that conducts “impact audits” to determine the impact of philanthropic interventions. Its methodology, mirroring that of Robin Hood, follows the dictates of modern social science. The long-term vision is that funders of all stripes will routinely require applicants to undergo rigorous audit before the funder decides whether to reward the non-profit organisation with a grant. Currently, too few funders know much about the impact of their grant dollars. A relevant analogy is how selective colleges and universities in the United States require students to take external tests (SAT exams) before deciding on admission. We envision impact audits will play the role in philanthropy that the SAT exam plays in the role of college admissions (ImpactMatters operates internationally, serving non-profit organisations whatever their philanthropic mission).

Aunnie Patton Power

Aunnie Patton Power is the founder of Intelligent Impact, an Associate Fellow at the University of Oxford's Saïd Business School and an advisor to the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation at the University of Cape Town's Graduate School of Business. A reformed mergers and acquisitions investment banker, she began her impact investing career in 2010 with Unitus Capital in Bangalore and has since worked with start-ups, intermediaries, funds, family offices, foundations, corporates and governments across Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. Currently, Aunnie is in the midst of building an artificial intelligence interface to access impact data, lecturing on Innovative Finance at UCT, Oxford and the London School of Economics and consulting on the creation of innovative financing and impact investing strategies for organizations in Africa, the U.S. and the UK. Aunnie's work has been published throughout the world, including by the Oxford University Press, the Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR), the World Economic Forum, Impact Investing Policy Collaboration and as a Massive Open Online Course on Coursera.

Impact investing: Leveraging all of your resources for social and environmental impactIn this session, Aunnie will look at global trends in impact investing, which is investment that sets and measures social and environmental impact alongside financial returns. She will explore how different stakeholders are creating strategies that optimise their social and environmental impact as well as their financial returns. Additionally, she will suggest steps that any organisation or individual can take to begin designing these types of strategies.

Invited Speakers

Dorothy Adams

Dorothy has headed up Social Investment since it was established as a Unit in July 2015, now the Social Investment Agency. Before taking up this role she was GM Insights, Ministry of Social Development (MSD), responsible for leading its data, analytics and evidence hub.

Prior to joining the Ministry in 2008, Dorothy worked in local government for 10 years specialising in policy and governance, with her most recent role being Manager, Strategic Development at Hutt City Council. Dorothy has also held senior roles in the Department of Labour, NZ Employment Service and was an advisor to the Minister of Employment.

Dorothy has a Master of Public Administration from Monash University and an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington. She is an Enrolled Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of Wellington.

Lani Evans

Lani is the manager of the Vodafone NZ Foundation and is leading the organisation toward an ambitious new goal: halving the number of excluded and disadvantaged young people in Aotearoa by 2027. She was the Emerging Philanthropist of the year in 2017, a 2015 Winston Churchill Fellow and is the co-chair of Action Station and the Thankyou Charitable Trust, Director of Thankyou Payroll and sits on the committee for the Peter McKenzie Project.

Jude Hooson

Jude is the Co-Founder and Director of strategic planning and research consultancy, Providence Group, delivering big picture thinking and innovative growth pathways to Boards and Senior Leadership Teams.

She has over 15 years’ board governance experience with creative, social services and conservation organisations and is currently Chair of the Predator Free Hauraki Coromandel Community Trust and Mahakirau Forest Estate. In 2017, Waikato Regional Council recognised Mahakirau Forest Estate for its leadership, innovation and inspiration to the wider Coromandel conservation community.

Rachel Karalus

Leaupepe Rachel Karalus is the recently appointed Chief Executive of K’aute Pasifika Trust. K’aute Pasifika Trust is a charitable trust providing health, social, and education services to Pasifika communities in the Waikato Region. It is also the lead provider of the Aere-Tai Midlands Collective which is a Collective of 7 pacific providers located in Hamilton, Rotorua, Tauranga, Hawkes Bay, Taranaki, Tokoroa and Gisborne. Rachel’s background is in law having practiced as a litigation lawyer for almost 15 years in Auckland, Wellington and in the Waikato Region. During that time, Rachel was committed to serving the community through various governance roles including on the board of K’aute Pasifika Trust and LifeLine New Zealand. She is of Samoan descent with strong roots in the Waikato Region. She is presently a member of the board for Child Matters (a charitable trust providing education, advice, support and advocacy for the prevention of child abuse).

Rongo Kirkwood

Rongo Kirkwood is the Pouhere Pūtea / Strategic Grants Advisor at Trust Waikato. She is of Ngāti Mahuta descent, and draws strength from her whanau, hapū and iwi. Rongo works closely with community and iwi groups that are seeking Trust Waikato funding. She also delivers marae-based funding workshops throughout the Waikato region.Having completed her degree in te reo Māori and Māori development, Rongo was drawn to work for Trust Waikato, due to the opportunities it presented for “helping make the Waikato a great place to live, work and play”. Rongo is the Chair of the Māori Advisory Committee of Philanthropy New Zealand.

Jeremy Mayall

Dr. Jeremy Mayall is a composer, producer, performer and researcher. He mainly works in music, sound art, installation and multimedia formats, with a focus on exploring his fascination in the interrelationships between sound, time, space, the senses, and the human experience. He is excited by the process of collaboration and recent projects have included work with musicians, dancers, poets, aerial silks performers, theatre practitioners, scientists, perfumers, bakers, authors, sculptors, filmmakers, pyrotechnicians, lighting designers and visual artists.

Julie Nelson

Julie is the joint chief executive of the Wise Group of entities, one of the largest non- government providers of mental health and wellbeing services in New Zealand. Julie has co-led the Group for more than 25 years, over which time it has grown from one to more than 1,000 employees.

Julie has also been instrumental in championing the adoption of Housing First in New Zealand and has worked on the frontline with chronically homeless people. She leads The People’s Project in Hamilton, which was established by the Wise Group to end chronic homelessness in Hamilton by 2016. The People’s Project is the first large-scale, researched pilot of Housing First in New Zealand. She is also Project Lead for the Housing First Auckland collective.

Julie’s knowledge of community housing is in-depth. She has spent time in other countries reviewing various community housing models and also co-chairs the Council of Community Housing Aotearoa.

John Robson

JR is a director and Group Chief Financial Officer at Provoke Solutions, a software design and development company with 130 employees across offices in New Zealand and America. Prior to emigrating to New Zealand, JR spent more than a decade with Merrill Lynch in London as part of a macro-economic investment team managing investment funds for institutional pension funds. He subsequently had a number of senior roles within the banking and finance sector in New Zealand, including Head of Business Planning and Strategy and Head of Emerging Technology and Payments for ANZ Bank New Zealand.

JR has been involved with the NGO sector in New Zealand for over 15 years, and was Chairman of the Child Cancer Foundation Board for 4 years (where he is still a board member). He is also heavily involved in the movement to encourage generosity through a board position at the One Percent Collective Trust, a charity that works with a number of small charities to tell their stories and support regular giving. JR is a futurist, closet economist, and technology strategist; his day job exposes him to the latest developments in technology, and he works with some of New Zealand’s largest companies to understand how to leverage their investment in IT. He is currently involved in concept designs using augmented reality, blockchain smart contracts, and AI.

Guy Ryan

Guy is a entrepreneur, leader and speaker. He has served on boards and strategic groups for business and government, and has spoken internationally and at home to more than 25,000 people. In 2015 Guy was awarded Young New Zealander of the Year, recognising the contribution he has made for thousands of young New Zealanders helping to raise aspirations, build capability, and make a difference.

He is particularly passionate in the role of purpose‐driven business and social enterprise in creating more inclusive and sustainable economies, and believes that young people have a critical role to play in helping to create solutions to the big issues of our time.

As the Founder and Chief Executive of Inspiring Stories, Guy has built an impressive track record of programmes and partnerships. These include major national events (Festival for the Future) to accelerator programmes (Live the Dream), and most recently the commercial ventures that have enabled Inspiring Stories to transition from a charity to a social enterprise with its recruitment agency (Millennials) and speaker bureau (Inspiring Speakers) ventures.